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Bible Dictionary

GOD

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GOD

(a) The revelation of God.
From its first line, the Bible speaks about God (Gen. 1:1). From one extreme to the other, it is presented as the revelation that He has given of Himself, a revelation without which we would know nothing enough about Him.

It is true that before revealing himself through the written word, God manifested himself through the work of creation. This shows the glory, power and deity of the Creator (Ps. 19:1; Rom. 1:20). Also those who do not possess the Scriptures are guilty of not seeking God, of not glorifying Him, and of not thanking Him (Acts 17:27; Rom. 1:20). But in no passage do we read that anyone among men comes to know God in a concrete way through the contemplation of nature.

The same can be said about consciousness. Men have a certain notion of the will of God (Rom. 2:15). This is why a minimum of morality subsists in human society and that magistrates are, in their own way, servants of God (Rom. 13:4). But this does not prevent pagans from ignoring divine ordinances (Ps. 147:20). Since sinful man does not seek God (Ps. 14:2; Rom. 3:11), a special revelation is needed in which God takes the initiative so that man can come to know Him.

Thus, it was revealed to the first members of humanity, Adam, Abel, Cain, Noah. But the memories of this primitive revelation were quickly obscured. One might think that Job and his friends, not belonging to the chosen people, were still beneficiaries and repositories of that previous knowledge of God.

But Abraham’s own ancestors were separated from God (Josh. 24:2). Likewise, nations in general are presented as far from God (Eph. 2:12). In particular, the claims of the philosophers are vigorously rejected: the world, in its wisdom, did not know God (1 Cor. 1:21).

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As a consequence, God revealed himself, first directly, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, then through the mediation of the prophets, from Moses to Malachi. His writings are the word of God (Deut. 18:18, 19), a living word (Acts 7:38).

The revelation culminates in the incarnation, already foreseen and hailed before by OT and NT believers (John 20:30; Rom. 16:26). The result is that as we wait for that day when the Lord, at his return, will take us into glory, where we will know as we are known (1 Cor. 13:12), we have no other valid source of information about God than the Bible.

In order for us to benefit from the revelation of the Scriptures, we also need the interior action of the Holy Spirit. Given our sinful nature, we are impervious to the truth, even when it is presented to us in all its splendor.

There is a total incompatibility between God’s way of thinking and that of men (Is. 55:8, 9; 1 Cor. 2:14). It is necessary that through the Spirit, the Father enlightens us with the truth, and prepares us to accept it (Mt. 16:17; Jn. 6:45; 1 Cor. 2:10; Eph. 1:17, 18).

This revelation does not involve any imperfection. A certain gradation can be admitted between the word transmitted by the prophets and that of the Son (Heb. 1:1). But since the Son himself put his seal without reservations of any kind on the writings of the OT (Mt. 5:17), we should not present any of our part either.

Regarding this revelation, the following observation can be made: When it is said: “You have heard that it was said to the ancients, but I say to you” (Mt. 5:21, 22, etc.), according to the most accredited exegetes, Jesus does not He was speaking here of the OT text, but only of the tendentious interpretations by which the Jews tried to restrict its scope (cf. Mt. 15:3-6).

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Even if one wants to interpret the passages of the Sermon on the Mount differently, one cannot therefore reach the conclusion that the ancient revelation was erroneous: the most one could say is that it had not yet been given in its fullness (cp . Mt. 19:8).

(b) The unity of God.

From the beginning, God appears as unique. If the same word is used in the OT and the NT to designate Jehovah and the false gods, it is assumed that the sacred authors never attribute real existence to the latter. These are vanities (Ps. 115:8; Is. 44:9; 1 Cor. 8:4-6). Often one can see behind them demons, inspirers of idolatry, through which they make themselves give honor, instead of God (1 Cor. 10:19, 20).

Surely, Jehovah is the God of Israel; but this link has nothing in common with the limitations that the pagans imagined. For them, each divinity had its circumscriptions, with well-defined borders, outside of which other divinities exercised their power.

Nothing of this conception is found in the sacred authors. Jehovah is the God of the Israelites by his election. In his sovereignty he wanted to reveal himself to them (Deut. 4: 33-36). He concluded an alliance with them, and chose them to be His

Nothing of this conception is found in the sacred authors. Jehovah is the God of the Israelites by his election. In his sovereignty he wanted to reveal himself to them (Deut. 4: 33-36). He concluded an alliance with them, and chose them to be his witnesses. This does not mean at all that his authority was entrusted to those who were part of this nation. He is Lord of all nations (Ps. 82:8; 72:11, 17, etc.).

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Among the people of Israel there were certainly those who attributed a certain reality to false gods to the point of worshiping them. Even within the early Church there were those who were not entirely convinced of the vanity of idols (1 Cor. 8:7).

But this tendency never appeared among the instruments of revelation. Everything you hear about the progressive development of monotheism in the OT comes from an inaccurate interpretation of the texts. From the first line of Genesis, God is one, Creator of the entire universe.

The Ten Commandments, whose antiquity is irrefutable, begin with the exclusion of all false deities (Ex. 20:3). Israel’s confession of faith is found in Deut. 6:4. The statements of Isaiah 40-48 are unsurpassed in their monotheistic force, but they do not contribute anything that is fundamentally unprecedented with respect to the older texts.

(c) The Trinity.

The unity of God does not in any way exclude the distinction between the Persons of divinity. The OT already hints at this distinction, although certainly in a veiled way, since it was above all the unity of God that had to be highlighted in the face of environmental polytheism.

Even if one does not want to take into account the plural form “Elohim” linked to a singular verb, because this fact receives various interpretations, there are texts in which the name of God is applied in advance to the Messiah (Ps. 45: 7-8; Isa. 9:5); Also, since the name “Lord” is equivalent to the ineffable name of Jehovah, Ps. 11:1 must be considered. A Son is associated with Jehovah (2 Sam. 7:14; Pr. 30:4; cp. Ps. 2:12).

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The passage about Wisdom in Proverbs (Pr. 8) presents it to us as a personal being, and not as an abstraction, to such an extent that, from the same frame of reference as Judaism, its philosophers came to the conclusion of the existence of a mediator, the Logos, between God and the world.

The Spirit of God is likewise frequently mentioned in the OT, and this in terms that imply both his own existence and his substantial unity with God (Gen. 1:2; Ps. 51:13; 2 Sam. .23:1). When we reach the NT we find there the doctrine of the Trinity clearly formulated, even when this term is not used.

To begin with, the NT is as formal as the OT in affirming the unity of God (Mark 12:29; James 2:19). The divinity of the Son and the Holy Spirit does not contradict this fact in any way. Paul opposes the one God and Father and the one Lord Jesus Christ to the multiplicity of divinities and lordships of paganism (1 Cor. 8:5, 6).

Thus, within the single divine essence three Persons can be distinguished who also receive the name of God, who within the Deity maintain relationships at an interpersonal level. It would be too long to list all the passages where this name is applied to the Father. (Here are some as examples: Jn. 20:17; 1 Thes. 1:1; 1 Pet. 1:2; Jas. 1:27; Jude. 1).

The Son is called God by the apostle John (John 1:1; 1 John 5:20), by the apostle Peter (2 Pet. 1:1), by the apostle Paul (Tit. 2:13; Rom. 9:5), by the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews (Heb. 1:8). The most compelling text is the one in which Jesus himself accepts being called that (Jn. 20:28).

As for the Holy Spirit, it is evident based on Acts. 5:3,4 that lying to Him is the same as lying to God. This is because it is about God. His Personality is also evidenced by how much he has a will (Heb.2:4); he communicates (Heb.9:8); He leads His own (Gal.5:18); justifies (1Co.6:11); teaches (1Co.2:13); and bears witness (Rom.8:16), apart from many other activities, of which several main ones are mentioned in Jn.14,15 and 16.

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The three Persons of the Trinity are mentioned together in the baptismal formula (Mt. 28:19) and in the apostolic blessing (2 Cor. 13:13); also in 1 Cor. 12:4, 6 and in Eph. 4:4-6, so their distinction is implied.

This distinction is also possibly highlighted even more clearly in the passages in which the three Persons appear with different functions: For example, in the baptism of Jesus, the Father bears witness to the Son, upon whom the Holy Spirit descends (Mt. 3: 16, 17); at his death, the Son offers himself to the Father through the Spirit (Heb. 9:14); At Pentecost, the Father sends the Holy Spirit on behalf of the Son, and the Son sends it on behalf of the Father (John 14:26; 15:26).

In our experience of salvation, the distinction between the Persons becomes clear to us. We are saved according to the foreknowledge of God the Father. It is the Son who offered himself as a sacrifice for redemption. It is the Holy Spirit who applies the blessings (1 Pet. 1:2). But this distinction is not limited to the administration of salvation, but exists from all eternity within the divine essence (John 17:5).

To finish specifying this doctrine, we must mention the texts that highlight the unity between the three Persons; The first ancient book of the NT, the 1st Epistle to the Thessalonians, presents the Father and the Son as united in such a way that the verb denoting their action is in the singular, which is so contrary to all the laws of Greek grammar as it can be to those of the grammar of the Spanish language.

“But our God and Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct (sic) our path” (1 Thes. 3 11). Jesus said explicitly: “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30).

For his part, the Holy Spirit is so closely united to the Father and the Son that by His coming into the heart of the believer, the Father and the Son also come to dwell there (John 14:17, 23). The subordination of the Son to the Father and that of the Holy Spirit to the Father and the Son do not imply any difference of essence between the three Persons.

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To make the mystery of the Trinity understood, sometimes perhaps to make it acceptable to human thought, theologians have resorted to various arguments and various comparisons derived from the inanimate world, and especially from human nature.

Since we do not find any argument of this kind in the Bible, a discussion of this topic does not correspond to a Bible dictionary. However, those who wish to study this question in depth will find a valuable treatment of it in the work of L. S. Chafer, “Systematic Theology”, volume I, PP. 294-313, and in the work of F. Lacueva, “One God in three Persons” (PP. 125-166). (See also TRINIDAD).

(d) The attributes of God.

To the question: who is God? We have tried to answer with the Bible in hand: It is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We now have to address the question that can only come second: What is God like? Here we must mention what are called the attributes of God, that is, the characters by which he is distinguished from his creatures. The Bible does not list his attributes as such, but rather shows them in activity, in a concrete way, in the history of revelation. In passing it can be seen that they apply indifferently to the three divine Persons.

(A) God is eternal.

This does not just mean that God has always existed, and that he always will exist (Ps. 90:2; Jn. 1:1; Heb. 9:14). He further means that our notions of time are not applicable to him (2 Pet. 3:8). On the other hand, we should not therefore come to the conclusion that time is something unreal or unimportant. Our times are in his hands, and it is through the course of the years that he manifests his work (Ps. 31:16; Hab. 3:2). God remains unchanged (Ps. 102:28; Heb. 13:8); but creation and redemption consummated in time give a result that counts for eternity.

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(B) God is omniscient.

(Ps. 139:2-4; Jn. 16:30; 1 Cor. 2:10). By virtue of his eternity, he knows the future as well as the past (Ps. 139:16). This is not a question of mere theoretical knowledge, as if God were the passive spectator of what happens. When we read, e.g. e.g., that God knows the way of the righteous (Ps. 1:6; 1 Cor. 8:3), this implies that he comes to have knowledge of his creature, and that he admits it to his communion. When it is stated that He contemplates the guilty acts of sinners (Is. 59:15, 16; Lam. 3:36), this implies that He will intervene to punish them.

(C) God is omnipresent.

(Ps. 139:7-10; Mt. 18:20; 28:20), but not in a pantheistic sense, as if He could not be distinguished from His creation. On the one hand, God is not limited to his universe. The heavens and the heavens of heavens cannot contain him (1 Kings 8:27). On the other hand, his creatures do not constitute part of divinity, but rather distinct beings that God has created before Him. The omnipresence of the Creator means that we can never be far from Him (Acts 17:28).

Misguided people have come to believe that, like the pagan deities, God exercised his jurisdiction over a limited territory (Jer. 23:23; Jon. 1:3). But the story of Jonah shows precisely how real God’s omnipresence is.

(D) God is almighty.

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(Mt. 19:26; 28:18; Rev. 1:8). His omnipotence is not only virtual, but it is effective (Ps. 115:3). We must not come to the conclusion that everything that happens results directly from his action. He leaves his creatures a real responsibility. He is not at all the author of sin (Hab. 1:13; Jas. 1:13), however well he is the maker of misfortune (Am. 3:6). In his sovereignty, he controls the power of the wicked and the devil himself (Jb. 1-2) and can also bring good out of evil (Gen. 50:20).

This fact appears particularly in the cross, which represents the human crime par excellence, as well as Satan’s masterpiece, and which at the same time constitutes the fulfillment of the fundamental part of God’s plan (Acts 2:23; 4:27 , 28).

(E) God is spirit.

(John 4:24). This does not prevent him from manifesting himself in a visible or sensible form (theophanies: Gen. 18:1, 2; Ex. 3:2; Judges 6:11, 12; 1 Kings 19:12; Is. 6:1). But the very diversity of the forms in which he appeared reveals to us that none of them is essential. At Sinai, the Israelites saw no figure (Deut. 4:15).

The same thing happens with the anthropomorphic expressions that we find especially in the first pages of the Bible and in poetic books, which must be taken for what they are: figures of language that fit into our vocabulary, and that help us understand clearly. more exactly what God is like. Through the Incarnation, God gave us in His Son a perfect and concrete image of Himself (John 1:14, 18; Col. 1:16).

(F) and (G) God is merciful and just.

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(Ps. 33:4, 5; 103:6-8; 145:17; Heb. 2:17; 1 Jn. 2:1). These two attributes are mentioned together on many occasions in the Scriptures, and not without reason, since they complement each other. Without mercy, justice would be implacable, and all men would be lost; Without justice, mercy would be a guilty indulgence toward sin, and the universe would sink into anarchy.

In his mercy, God has had compassion on the sinner, but in his justice he only saves him by taking away his sins. The importance of these two attributes appears in a particular way in the text of Ex. 34:4, 6, where God Himself mentions them, proclaiming what He is like. They find the supreme expression of him in the cross. The Lord wants to communicate them to those who are His (Lk. 6:36; 1 Jn. 3:7).

(H) God is holy.

(John 17:11; Acts 4:27; John 14:26). The texts that declare this reality of God’s being are so numerous that it would be too long to list them all. The term “holy” means “separated,” “set apart.” God is radically distinguished from sinful men. In the OT, God’s holiness was evident in the distance He maintained between Himself and men.

Only priests could offer sacrifices. The most holy place was accessible only to the high priest, once a year (Lev. 16:2). The victims were to be blameless (Lev. 22:20; Mal. 1:13, 14). It was forbidden to look at the ark, and even more so to touch it (1 Sam. 6:19; 2 Sam. 6:6, 7).

You cannot see the face of the Lord and still be alive (Ex. 33:20). This outward holiness must be an illustration of the moral holiness of God, his horror toward sin, and his perfection in good. Demands holiness from worshipers (Lev. 19:2).

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In the NT, the holiness of God is manifested by the perfect holiness of the Lord Jesus Christ (John 8:46; 14:30) and especially by the sacrifice of the cross (Heb. 9:22). In the NT there is also the consequence that the redeemed are holy because they belong to God, and that they must behave in a manner consistent with their conduct through the action of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 3:17; 2 Cor. 3:18; 1 Peter 1:15).

(I) God is love.

(1 Jn. 4:8; Gal. 2:20; 2 Tim. 1:7). It is this attribute that can be considered both in God and in us as the bond of perfection (Col. 3:14). This love is the ultimate motive of divine activities. There is nothing beyond. It unites the Persons of the Trinity together (John 5:20; 14:31).

He explains the election of Israel (Deut. 7:6-8) within a merciful intention toward all nations (Gen. 12:3). It extends to the world and is manifested by the gift of the only begotten Son and his death for the wicked (John 3:16; Rom. 5:8; 1 John 4:9, 10). It implies that the redeemed remain, in turn, full of love, first towards God (Mt. 22:37) and therefore towards his brothers (1 Jn. 4:11), and even for his enemies (Mt. . 5:44).

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Bible Dictionary

BETHEL

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BETHEL

is the name of a Canaanite city in the ancient region of Samaria, located in the center of the land of Canaan, northwest of Ai on the road to Shechem, 30 kilometers south of Shiloh and about 16 kilometers north of Jerusalem.

Bethel is the second most mentioned city in the Bible. Some identify it with the Palestinian village of Beitin and others with the Israeli settlement of Beit El.

Bethel was the place where Abraham built his altar when he first arrived in Canaan (Genesis 12:8; Genesis 13:3). And at Bethel Jacob saw a vision of a ladder whose top touched heaven and the angels ascended and descended (Genesis 28:10-19).

For this reason Jacob was afraid, and said, “How terrible is this place! It is nothing other than the house of God, and the gate of heaven »and he called Bethel the place that was known as «Light» (Genesis 35-15).

Bethel was also a sanctuary in the days of the prophet Samuel, who judged the people there (1 Samuel 7:16; 1 Samuel 10:3). And it was the place where Deborah, the nurse of Rebekah, Isaac’s wife, was buried.

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Bethel was the birthplace of Hiel, who sought to rebuild the city of Jericho (1 Kings 16:34).

When Bethel did not yet belong to the people of Israel, Joshua had to battle against the king of Bethel and other kings and defeated them (Joshua 12-16).

When the people of Israel had taken possession of the promised land, in the division by tribes it was assigned to the Tribe of Benjamin (Joshua 18-22), but in later times it belonged to the Tribe of Judah (2 Chronicles 13:19).

It was one of the places where the Ark of the Covenant remained, a symbol of the presence of God.

In Bethel the prophet Samuel judged the people.

Then the prophet Elisha went up from there to Bethel; and as he was going up the road, some boys came out of the city and mocked him, and said to him: “Go up, bald man; Come up, bald! When he looked back and saw them, he cursed them in the name of the Lord. Then two bears came out of the forest and tore to pieces forty-two boys” (2 Kings 2:23).

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After the division of the kingdom of Israel, Jeroboam I, king of Israel, had a golden calf raised at Bethel (1 Kings 21:29) which was destroyed by Josiah, king of Judah, many years later (2 Kings 23:15). .

Bethel was also a place where some of the Babylonian exiles who returned to Israel in 537 BC gathered. (Ezra 2:28).

The prophet Hosea, a century before Jeremiah, refers to Bethel by another name: “Bet-Aven” (Hosea 4:15; Hosea 5:8; Hosea 10:5-8), which means ‘House of Iniquity’, ‘House of Nothingness’, ‘House of Vanity’, ‘House of Nullity’, that is, of idols.

In Amos 7: 12-13 the priest Amaziah tells the prophet Amos that he flee to Judah and no longer prophesy in Bethel because it is the king’s sanctuary, and the head of the kingdom.

The prophet Jeremiah states that “the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel” (Jeremiah 48:13), because of their idolatry and, specifically, the worship of the golden calf.

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Bible Dictionary

PUTEOLI

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PUTEOLI

(lat.: “small fountains”).
Two days after arriving in Rhegium, the ship carrying Paul arrived at Puteoli, which was then an important maritime city.

The apostle found Christians there, and enjoyed their hospitality (Acts 28:13).

It was located on the northern coast of the Gulf of Naples, near the site of present-day Pouzzoles.

The entire surrounding region is volcanic, and the Solfatare crater rises behind the city.

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Bible Dictionary

PUT (Nation)

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PUT

Name of a nation related to the Egyptians and neighbors of their country (Gen. 10:6).

Put is mentioned with Egypt and other African countries, especially Libya (Nah. 3:9) and Lud (Ez. 27:10; Is. 66:19 in the LXX. Put appears between Cush and Lud in Jer. 46:9; Ez. 30:5).

In the LXX he is translated as Libyans in Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Josephus also identifies it with Libya (Ant. 1:6, 2), but in Nah. 3.9 is distinguished from the Libyans.

Current opinion is divided between Somalia, Eastern Arabia and Southern Arabia (Perfume Coast).

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Bible Dictionary

PURPLE

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PURPLE

A coloring substance that is extracted from various species of mollusks. The ancient Tyrians used two types of them: the “Murex trunculus”, from which the bluish purple was extracted, and the “Murex brandaris”, which gave the red.

The ink of its coloring matter varies in color depending on the region in which it is fished.

Piles of murex shells, artificially opened, have been discovered in Minet el-Beida, port of ancient Ugarit (Ras Shamra), which gives evidence of the great antiquity of the use of this purple dye (see UGARIT).

Due to its high price, only the rich and magistrates wore purple (Est. 8:15, cf. the exaltation of Mordecai, v. 2, Pr. 31:22; Dan. 5:7; 1 Mac. 10 :20, 62, 64; 2 Mac. 4:38; cf. v 31; Luke 16:19; Rev. 17:4).

The rulers adorned themselves in purple, even those of Midian (Judg. 8:26). Jesus was mocked with a purple robe (Mark 15:17).

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Great use had been made of purple-dyed fabrics for the Tabernacle (Ex. 25:4; 26:1, 31, 36) and for the high priest’s vestments (Ex. 28:5, 6, 15, 33; 39: 29). The Jews gave symbolic value to purple (Wars 5:5, 4).

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Bible Dictionary

PURIM

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PURIM

(Heb., plural of “luck”).
Haman cast lots to determine a day of good omen for the destruction of the Jews.

As Haman’s designs were undone, the liberation of the Jews was marked by an annual festival (Est. 3:7; 9:24-32) on the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar.

This festival is not mentioned by name in the NT, although there are exegetes who assume that it is the one referred to in Jn. 5:1.

This festival continues to be celebrated within Judaism: the book of Esther is read, and curses are pronounced on Haman and his wife, blessings are pronounced on Mordecai and the eunuch Harbonah (Est. 1:10; 7: 9).

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Bible Dictionary

PURIFICATION, PURITY

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PURIFICATION, PURITY

In the Mosaic Law four ways to purify oneself from contamination were indicated:

(a) Purification of contamination contracted by touching a dead person (Num. 19; cf. Num. 5:2, 3),

(b) Purification from impurity due to bodily emissions (Lev. 15; cf. Num. 5:2, 3).

(c) Purification of the woman in labor (Lev. 12:1-8; Luke 2:21-24).

(d) Purification of the leper (Lev. 14).

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To this, the scribes and Pharisees added many other purifications, such as washing hands before eating, washing vessels and dishes, showing great zeal in these things, while inside they were full of extortion and iniquity (Mark 7: 2-8).

In Christianity the necessary purification extends:

to the heart (Acts 15:9; James 4:8),
to the soul (1 Pet. 1:22), and
to the conscience through the blood of Christ (Heb. 9:14).

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